With 40GW of new wind capacity expected to be put in the ground this year, the world will blow past the 200GW cumulative mark by the time the calendar page turns to 2011, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).
The wind sector has been plagued with short-term concerns, particularly focused on the sagging US market, which has been hit by a lack of stronger federal support.
Just 1.24GW of capacity was added in the US during the first half of 2010 – less than half of what was installed during the same six-month period during the two previous years.
“We do expect the US market to be down this year as the low level of orders we saw during the financial crisis work their way through the system,” says GWEC secretary general Steve Sawyer.
“On the other hand, stronger growth in China will make up for this, and the European market is very stable. Overall, wind energy continues to be a growth market, weathering the economic crisis much better than some analysts had predicted.”
Global wind capacity will more than double over the next four years, exceeding 400GW by 2014, according to GWEC forecasts.
Sawyer notes that while the three principal markets of China, the US and Europe will continue to drive much of that growth, a welter of new markets are beginning to pull their weight as the cost of onshore wind continues to drop.
“In fact, around half of the growth is now happening in emerging economies and developing countries,” Sawyer says. “We are seeing very encouraging signs from countries in Latin America, including Brazil, Mexico and Chile, as well as Northern and Sub-Saharan Africa.”
